DESCRIPTION (provided by candidate): Although national interest exists to use outcomes information to provide accountability and improve the quality of mental health services provided to children and youth, little is known about how this information is used by different audiences--leadership, management, and clinicians-within organizations. Taking advantage of a natural experiment, this study proposes to use a multiple-case study design to study a subset of child out-of-home care agencies in Maryland that collaborated to develop an electronic Outcomes Management System (OMS) in 1994. Target audiences' experiences with OMS will be assessed using multiple sources of data: analyses of the outcomes data; organizational climate survey results; in-depth unstructured interviews with key informants; semi-structured interviews with staff; and reviews of OMS-related documents. Applying diffusion of innovation, behavior change and organizational theories, the study seeks to identify critical factors necessary to successfully implement OMS by: (1) assessing targeted audiences' perceptions regarding the effectiveness and key components of feedback provided by OMS; (2) assessing target audiences' perceptions about their ability, values and motivation to use outcome information to make clinical, supervisory, and management decisions; and (3) understanding how organizational context helps support or deter the use of OMS. The findings will inform the development of strategies designed to improve the use of outcomes by each of these targeted audiences, and elucidate the complexities involved with implementing interventions designed to change practice within local child and adolescent mental health service settings. [unreadable] [unreadable]